Alaska Science Forum: Fire on the mountain near the Yukon RiverA smoking mountain near the Yukon River not far from Eagle is, after further study, still a puzzle. People first noticed acrid smoke in September 2012. The mountain has been steaming ever since, even through the coldest days of winter. Scientists thought a likely cause for the smoldering mountaintop was an oily rock deposit that somehow caught fire. Linda Stromquist, a geologist for the National Park Service, has ...

Prep football title games setThe state high school football championship games are set for both the medium- and small-school classifications. In the medium division, Northern Lights Conference champion Soldotna will battle Southeast Conference champion North Pole at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Dimond Alumni Field in Anchorage. Soldotna advanced to its third straight title game by downing Juneau-Douglas, 44-6, in last Saturday’s semifinal game. Nor...

Public Safety Blotter: Oct. 14Oct. 1 • At 4:49 a.m., a domestic disturbance was reported on Yukon Street. It was verbal only and the parties separated. • At 8:01 a.m., a caller reported a moving vehicle accident in the Ismailov Street and Rezanof Drive area. • At 10:19 a.m., patrolling officers were advised of suspicious circumstances on Benny Benson Drive. • At 11:27 a.m., a man on Ole Johnson Avenue claimed he received a verbal threat from a...

Road closed due to waterLast Sunday saw wind and a mix of snow and rain pelting Kodiak with 1.06 inches of precipitation falling, along with 0.2 inches of snow. The snowfall is average so far for October, but total precipitation is more than normal, according to NOAA weather station manager in Kodiak, Craig Eckert. “We’re an inch above normal,” Eckert said. As of Monday afternoon, Kodiak had received 4.47 inches of precipitation in Octob...

Bazaars fill weekends as holidays approachAs the holiday season begins, another season is starting. Bazaar season. Kodiak will see at least half a dozen bazaars before Christmas arrives, with items ranging from food to paintings to pottery. On Friday and Saturday, the Kodiak Harbor Convention Center will be inundated with soap, hand decorated apparel, jewelry, original paintings and prints, locally sourced or made food items, photography, baskets and “cre...

Outdoor Kodiak: Final days of deer seasonThe general deer season for the road system closes in roughly two weeks on Oct. 31. Do you have fresh venison in the freezer? If not, you had better get busy or start making plans for alternate hunts. Sure you can move off the road system or qualify for the primitive weapon season that extends through November 14 for archery and muzzleloaders. If that sounds like a lot of expense or hassle, I’ll return to my point...

Kodiak Island Births: Oct. 14Gabrielle Emil M. Carino was born at 1:24 a.m. on Oct. 7, 2014 to Jemlyn Carino and German Carino Jr. His parents are originally from the Philippines and now live in Kodiak. The baby’s mother works at McDonald's and the baby’s father works at Spenard Builders. Also welcoming him to the family is German Enzo, Gee Ehriel and Georgina Elize Carino.

A fast day at Run the RockFor Anthony Saucier, Saturday’s KMXT-FM Run the Rock marathon was more than a sprint than a long-distance race. The ultra-marathon veteran used the shorter race to his advantage and owned the 26.2-mile course on a brilliant sunshiny October day in Kodiak. Saucier pulverized the course record with a time of 3 hours, 10 minutes, 2 seconds — 23:42 better than Neil McCarthy’s 2013 record. “I wasn’t trying,” Saucier sa...

Students study with sensorsThree weeks ago, the Kodiak Island Borough School District installed two earthquake sensor platforms, installing one atop Kodiak High School and one at Old Harbor School. Already, students are collecting data from the sensors, which will be used to help NASA researchers learn about predicting earthquakes. “All the projects that the students are doing are real time, really important projects, and they’re being coun...